This disclosure relates in general to removable data cartridges and, more specifically, but not by way of limitation, to protecting removable data cartridges.
Digital media today has varying levels of quality. Inferior quality is especially an issue where counterfeiting of digital media is prevalent. A consumer who receives a counterfeit media may believe the authentic media are of inferior quality. Counterfeit media can damage the drive used to read the media. Drive makers would have increased warranty repairs should substandard media be used in the market.
Hacking is a substantial risk for all computer components today. This is especially true for storage media. Reverse engineering operation of a storage media may allow eavesdropping or other unauthorized uses. Hard drives have password protection to prevent improper use by unauthorized persons. DVD disks use a common key that is used for all drives, but discovery of that key has made hacking and duplication possible.
In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.